The Flames Within Us
By: V-Dawg
Chapter 3: The Serum
Ike had never been truly terrified in his entire life. Sure, he was scared, or frightened, but never this terrified. Even seeing his father fatally stabbed, was not as traumatizing, perhaps because Ike thought he wasn't in danger.
Besides, he was younger back then, and now he was more in control, and so he thought he would never be the one trapped.
Yet here he was, chained to a table, with an evil doctor-like figure standing, chuckling and smiling to himself like a nerd staring at his project knowing he would get first place.
Ike knew whatever was going to happen would be out of this world. He had a feeling, and watching Izuka linger at what appeared to be a shelf full of mysterious vials and serum, Ike knew something unexpected would happen. Besides, he could make out 10 vials, each with a number and a weird text besides each, with the laguz slaves constantly filling the shelf with an oversupply of what looks to be blood.
But even he couldn't bare the pain of what would happen to him.
"Fetch me the blood of number 5!" Izuka bellowed to his laguz slaves, before, taking out a needle, containing a strange yellow liquid.
"I'll need his shirt off, this specific vial would work best at a chest injection."
At this Ike freaked out, "A chest injection?! Surely, he's not trying to exe-"
Ike's thoughts were interrupted with a searing pain, noticing Izuka had injected Ike, the yellow liquid draining into Ike's body, and despite his best efforts, Ike was groaning in pain.
Unlike say, a blade piercing you kind of pain, but instead a sort of inside creature traveling through the insides of your body, leaving nothing but carnage in its wake.
His whole body was trembling, Ike hadn't trembled this hard before, not even in fear. He could only endure the feeling as it spread throughout his body. Eventually, the serum had spread throughout Ike's body within a matter of five minutes, and Ike could barely move. He was paralyzed. He couldn't even scream in pain, or tremble, as his body desired to do, but wouldn't let him for some reason.
"I have to say, I designed this serum to be effective after three minutes! You're making me impatient!" Izuka yelled at Ike, watching the laguz slaves bring Izuka his blood sample.
"Yes, but his body will finally be subject to accept its fate at this point. From here on Ike, your future is set!" Izuka laughed, before injecting the vial in Ike's shoulder.
The pain, this time, was much worse for Ike, and despite the serum paralyzing him, Ike let out a small whimper of pain, which was truly too much for him. Too much for anyone to endure without making a sound.
Ranulf and Leanne were watching in horror at the suffering Ike was going through, Ranulf in particular unable to watch as Ike began trembling before only being able to make a single noise.
"Y-You monster!" Ranulf bellowed, which only seemed to make Izuka smile wider. Ranulf couldn't see the numbered vials, but could see the text, though he couldn't understand it.
But it was then Ranulf realized, "Wait! Leanne, can you read those vials over there?" Ranulf whispered to Leanne, pointing in the direction of them.
Leanne squinted her eyes to the shelf, struggling to see the words, but she could make out one, "it says blood."
"What about number 5?" Ranulf asked, to which Leanne sighed.
Ranulf quickly realized what was wrong, Leanne simply didn't have his night vision to see clearly in the dark, "Hey, it's okay Leanne, we'll figure this out eventually."
"We will?" Leanne asked, to which Ranulf nodded.
Satisfied that he had made Leanne feel better, Ranulf looked to the state of Ike, and saw that he was suffering. His body was unable to move, but his facial structure said it all.
Meanwhile, Ike was witnessing the worst of pain he could ever image. More than he himself could even tolerate. Izuka had done something only another man could do: make Ike cry.
The pain was too much and Ike even began letting out profanities, clutch his hands, or even bite his gum in an attempt to lessen the pain.
The only other person who had made Ike cry, was the black knight. However, this was different. The black knight had made Ike cry due to the loss of his teacher, his father.
Izuka, however, hadn't made Ike lose anyone, instead, he was torturing him. Even though the black knight had an impact on him, Ike was never scared of him.
Izuka, however, had become a first. Ike was truly terrified of Izuka for the sheer pain he was feeling, despite him bracing himself.
Izuka smiled wickedly throughout the entire ordeal, making it worse by grabbing a knife and proceeding to scratch Ike across his body, to further make Ike suffer. Blood was pouring out from his torso, and all Ike could do is endure the pain, whatever this was.
For the first hour of his life, Ike was a mess of who he was. Izuka had managed to break the Saviour of Crimea in an hour, and if it took that long for Ike to fall, how fast would others before and after him fall?
Eventually, Izuka had had enough of his captive treasure, and ordered the laguz to throw him back in the cage with Ranulf and Leanne.
They had literally followed his orders. Grabbing a paralyzed Ike, and throwing him in the jailcell, his body hitting the ground with a sickening thud.
"Ike!" Ranulf exclaimed, rushing to his fallen beorc friend.
"Ike, Ike, speak to me!" He begged, only for Ike to barely raise his eyes and make a single quiet grunt in response.
At that moment, Ranulf looked up to Izuka in sheer hatred. Nobody would do this to Ike, and get away with it.
"What did you do to my friend!" Ranulf yelled at Izuka in the most violent, aggressive voice he could make at the moment.
But Izuka simply chuckled, "I compromised his immune system, before injecting him with laguz blood. After a few months of semi-daily doses your friend will join you sub-humans."
Ranulf growled at the racial slur, but knew he couldn't do anything against him at this rate. He was more concerned for his paralyzed friend.
Izuka left them in silence, content with what he had done, the laguz slaves however standing still, a pariah of what they were.
"What do we do?" Ranulf pleaded to Leanne, who was watching a suffering, Ike.
"I sing?" Leanne asked, which confused Ranulf.
"What do you mean you sing?"
Leanne timidly spoke again, "I sing, beorc get better?"
It was then Ranulf realize Leanne was a heron, and therefore was specialized in healing. She was asking Ranulf for permission to heal Ike.
With a slight chuckle of embarrassment, "Yeah of course, if it will help him."
And thus, Leanne began to chant a lullaby. It wasn't the lullaby Ike and Mist had heard, but an exclusive lullaby learnt by those in the Serenes Forest. Only she and Reyson, at least she knew were able to sing it.
Eventually, a shroud of light blue light surrounded Ike. It was rather faint but noticeable in the dark atmosphere of wherever they were. Eventually, the light faded as Leanne ended her lullaby, and Ike was moving, albeit slightly.
"Ike!" Ranulf exclaimed, helping a weak Ike to his feet.
"Thanks, Ranulf, Leanne." He quietly said, his voice very sore. In fact, his entire body was sore, and all he wanted to do was collapse, but he knew he wasn't done.
He was very weak, and therefore trying to walk. But he was failing, enough so that Ranulf had to help him walk.
"How are you feeling, Ike?" Ranulf asked.
"Like absolute garbage, I don't know what he did, but it's messing me up inside." Ike said as he was wheezing for air.
"Ike! Calm you breathe." Ranulf exclaimed, not wanting Ike to collapse again.
"I-I'm trying." As he said in between breathes.
"Just stay silent Ike and focus on your breathing." Ranulf said at last before putting him up against the wall, hoping it would help his body function normally.
After getting Ike where he wanted, Ranulf looked and saw Leanne with a worried face painted towards Ike, who was now sleeping due to exhaustion.
Ranulf frowned, "Is he okay?"
"I hope." Was all Leanne said. "Lullaby should help, but we watch him always."
Ranulf nodded, "I'll keep an eye, you may need to rest due to healing him."
Leanned shook her head, "Lullaby don't tire Leanne."
"Okay, are you sure?" He asked Leanne one more time.
"I sure." She nodded confidently.
"Thanks, but I can't. Izuka said semi-daily, meaning he may come for Ike again later today, so I need you to be on your top conscious so you can assist Ike as soon as possible."
Leanne seemed to have understood, and admitted Ranulf had a point.
"Okay, wake me up if something happens." Leanne said to Ranulf, before taking a deep breath and closing her eyes.
"Got it."
Mist had managed to sleep throughout most of the day, as she pondered in her dreams on the possible scenarios that had happened to Ike, her brother, and her finally family.
It pained her to think the worst happened to Ike, and thus thinking she was officially a lonely person, devoid of anymore family. It terrified her, and so she prayed to Ashera that Ike was okay, alongside Ranulf and Leanne.
Mist herself knew Lethe and Caineghis were taking Ranulf's disappearance pretty hard, whereas Tibarn and Reyson were taking Leanne's disappearance with shame.
The search continued, but Mist didn't join. She was too afraid, either to fall in the same trap as her brother, or to find her brother dead. She wasn't brave.
It wasn't until a chat with Lethe did Mist finally break out of it.
"I'm as devastated as you are beorc, but we must continue. I'm pretty sure Ike, Ranulf and Leanne are just waiting for us alongside all those laguz to find the secret."
Mist had actually chuckled at that remark, and it helped her get through the day.
She had joined Titania in aiding the search, but beforehand, had brought something that even Titania couldn't imagine: Urvan.
"Titania, this is Urvan, the final weapon father ever had, I think it is suitable for you to take it."
Mist had recalled Titania gladly taking it. In a way, it made it seem as though Titania was a motherly figure for Mist, which she was.
But Mist had found a way to get herself moving, and nothing was going to stop her.
She, like Lethe had a sibling relationship with their brothers, and were going to find them.
"This is so frustrating!" Lethe had exclaimed, as it seemed as she was running on fumes.
"What's wrong Lethe?" Mist asked an enraged Lethe.
"I can smell it! I can sense it! But why is this all I can do?! We should be able to go further now that we got the cause of their disappearance, so why does it feel like nothing new is happening!"
Mist had always been an energetic, but calm and tranquil person.
"It's because this is the hardest part, finding the end of a tunnel without going through it. It's like we're trying to climb a mountain instead. It may be harder, but at least we can see you doing it, instead of going through and losing sight of those on the other side."
Lethe mumbled, "I guess I can see your point, but still, this suck."
"I know it does, but we have to work with what we are given. Now I know how the laguz thinks, but maybe we should-" Before Mist could finish Lethe sighed.
"Yeah, I think we should. This has been going on for too long, and now Ike, Ranulf and Leanne are gone!"
Mist knew this was big. If Lethe accepted help from the beorc then she must truly be desperate, and thus it's the first time for Mist to see Lethe actually be filled with humility. Something she had never seen in a laguz before.
It was strange because now, Mist didn't know exactly how to calm a situation like this, when a laguz truly feels bad.
So, Mist just sat there, watching Lethe go on about how she feels useless.
"You're not useless Lethe, heck, I lost my brother as well, you think I feel useless?"
Lethe remained silent, unsure what to say.
"It may feel hopeless, but for their sake, we have to keep trying, okay?" Mist told Lethe, who nodded after a bit.
"Good, let's catch up with Reyson, see if he's found anything."
Caineghis and Tibarn were hard at work, gathering the information and trying to concluded where it could be.
"My guess would be Begnion, it's the biggest area and therefore could produce the most warp powder." Tibarn said.
"I think your prejudice for Begnion is showing." Caineghis replied, to which Tibarn looked at him weird.
"I may hate Begnion, but think logically, how would you possibly find lots of warp powder that's being used like waste?" Tibarn asked.
Caineghis was getting what he was saying, "It must be mass produced by a country somewhere, meaning the leaders of that country would know."
"Exactly, we can cross out Crimea and Daien because of the war they suffered, so we are only left with Begnion. I highly doubt any laguz nations would steal laguz citizens." Tibarn stated.
"What about radicals? Those who see them as powerful tools. The beorc may be suspects, your right, but we have had cases of radical laguz who see their specific species as superior." Caineghis speculated.
"Huh, that's actually a good point. I highly doubt the dragon laguz would be responsible as they are powerful in their own might, which leaves the raven country of Kilvas." Tibarn remarked, surprised that he didn't think of that.
"Indeed, so now we are left with either Begnion or Kilvas. Begnion is known for their hatred towards laguz, whereas the ravens are the only other bird of beast tribe laguz that so far hasn't been abducted." Caineghis wrapped up.
"Very well, so who's going to Begnion and who's going to Kilvas?" Tibarn asked.
"Simple, the Hawk's will go to Kilvas, whereas the Greil Mercenaries will approach Begnion."
"Do I have to visit those unfaithful greedy ravens again?" Tibarn remarked.
"Yes, you do- wait, if we interrogate the leaders of Kilvas and Begnion, won't the rest of Tellius realize the issue on our hands?" Caineghis asked, which had Tibarn shaking.
"Shit, you're right."
A.N / So yeah, the first half of this chapter is probably among the darkest parts of this story. Ike's suffering is going to be this graphic, and Ranulf and Leanne will undergo their own struggles. Regardless, hope this chapter was good. What is Tibarn and Caineghis going to do? What is happening to Ike? Will Ike, Ranulf and Leanne ever be found?